Hands-on science: Ph.D students visit local classrooms

A group of fifth- and sixth-grade students stood in a circle in their Dunsmuir classroom on Monday counting to 30 in unison. In the center of the circle, a classmate stood leaning over a table with his face submerged in a tub of ice water as part of a science demonstration put on by UC Davis Ph.D. students.

A group of fifth- and sixth-grade students stood in a circle in their Dunsmuir classroom on Monday counting to 30 in unison. In the center of the circle, a classmate stood leaning over a table with his face submerged in a tub of ice water. The unusual scene was a hands-on science demonstration being conducted by Shawnamar Dewey and Donnelly West, Ph.D. students at UC Davis.

The demonstration was part of a larger program called “Science in the Siskiyous,” designed to provide face-to-face interactions between students and scientists. The program brought nine UC Davis Ph.D. students to 14 Siskiyou County classrooms this week to draw local K-12 students into science by engaging them in hands-on experiments.

Dewey began her presentation by showing a series of photos. One clearly depicted her in a lab coat, while others showed kayaker dropping off of a waterfall, a person riding a horse, a skier captured in mid-air and various other wide-ranging activities.

“Which of these photos shows a scientist,” Dewey asked the students.

Nearly every student said the person in the lab coat was clearly the scientist. But, Dewey explained that every photo was of her, adding that scientists are regular people who do all kinds of amazing and interesting things. She later explained that this exercise helps to break through the preconceptions children sometimes have of science and scientists.

Dewey also explained that she was once a student “right here in this school” and that she was also a student of their teacher, Susan Keeler. She told the students that one of the things that made her want to become a scientist was the experience of climbing Mt. Shasta with Ms. Keeler when she was 12 years old.

The experiment with the ice water was devised to demonstrate the “dive reflex,” a physiological mechanism whereby the heart rate of humans and other mammals involuntarily slows down as a way to conserve oxygen in the blood when the body is submerged in cold water.

Students took turns placing electrodes on their wrists and using a laptop computer to compare their resting heart rates to their heart rates while their faces were submerged in the ice water for 30 seconds. Without fail, each test subject showed a dramatic decrease in heart rate while holding their face in the ice water.

“All too often kids see science as just facts to memorize rather than a fascinating process by which we can ask questions about the world around us,” said Dewey. “With this unique experience, we hope that science will jump out of textbooks and into the imagination and interest of students.”

“It was awesome for the children to have hands-on participation with real scientific tools,” said Keeler. She said many aspects of the presentation and experiment worked very well with the students’ current curriculum and she appreciated the way students were given inspiring access to the world of professional and academic science.

Page 2 of 2 - The Science in the Siskiyous program was supported by contributions from several Dunsmuir businesses including Cave Springs Motel, Manfredi’s Deli and the Dunsmuir Brewery Works.